Railers take down second-ranked Central

The Newton High School girls’ basketball team made a statement Tuesday, stopping second-ranked (KBCA, Class 5A) Salina Central 45-42 Friday in the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division I opener at Ravenscroft Gym. Newton held K-State commit Shaelyn Martin to nine points on three of nine shooting. Martin got into early foul trouble, opening up Newton’s offense in the middle. “She took herself out of the game,” Newton coach Randy Jordan said. “I just felt like our kids had the will to win tonight. We executed our game plan. We were switching the screens, trying to slow them down. We challenged their threes. All but two of their threes were challenged, and they make their living on those. The girls helped each other on defense.” The Railers entered the game ranked fourth in Class 5A. Abbie Lehman led Newton with 20 points. Taylor Stahly added 11 points, eight in the fourth quarter. “Taylor stepped up and hit some big shots,” Jordan said. “She hit two big free throws. To have that kind of poise as a sophomore, that says a lot about her. Her teammates have a lot of confidence in her.” Central, 1-2 overall, was led by Hailey Mayfield with 12 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. Brooke Peters added 10 points. Newton jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Central ended the first period on a 9-2 run, capping off the period with a pair of MacKenzie Morris free throws. Central extended the run into the second quarter on a Morris trey. Down 14-8, Newton made a 12-2 run capped by a Lehman layup. Central answered with a Brooke Peters trey to get within one at the half, 20-19. Newton was seven of 24 shooting in the first half. Central was six of 18. The Mustangs regained the lead on a Peters trey to open the third quarter. Newton replied with a 10-2 run capped by a Kelsi Langley trey with 2:13 remaining in the period. Newton missed a chance to extend the lead. Central used a turnover and missed Newton shot to end the quarter on a 4-0 run, trailing 30-28. Central opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run. Newton countered with a Hannah Carlgren layup and a pair of Lehman free throws. A Harvey layup put Central up by one with 4:38 remaining in regulation. Newto regained the lead on a Stahly trey with 3:18 in regulation. Newton made a defensive stop, but gave up a layup off a turnover to tie the game. Tied 39-39, Stahly busted a trey with 1:01 to play. Lehman appeared to block a Martin shot with 47.7 seconds in regulation, but was called for a foul. Martin hit one of the two free throws. Stahly hit two free throws for Newton with 22.3 seconds in regulation. Mayfield hit a layup for Central with 3.2 seconds in regulation. Lehman was fouled with 1.6 seconds in regulation. Lehman hit the first, but missed the second. Central called time out with 1.3 seconds to go. Stahly intercepted the inbounds pass. “We did a good job of moving the ball in the fourth quarter,” Jordan said. “We learned from our near meltdown against Kearney up at Hays.” Newton plays at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Salina South. “This team knows to enjoy this win tonight, and then get ready for another big game Tuesday. This team wants to get better, and I think they will.”SALINA CENTRAL (1-2, 0-1 AV-CTL I) — M.Carlgren 0 0-0 0, 0; Wood 2 0-0 2, 4; Morris 0 (1) 2-2 1, 5; Bradshaw 0 0-0 0, 0; Peters 1 (2) 2-2 4, 10; Driver 0 0-0 1, 0; Mayfield 6 0-0 3, 12; Henry 1 0-0 2, 2; Martin 2 (1) 2-4 4, 9; TOTALS 12 (4) 6-8 17, 42. NEWTON (4-0, 1-0 AV-CTL I) — Porter 0 0-0 0, 0; Anderson 0 0-0 1, 0; Stahly 0 (3) 2-2 0, 11; Hiebert 1 0-0 1, 2; Lehman 7 6-11 2, 20; Langley 0 (2) 0-2 2, 6; H.Carlgren 2 2-2 1, 6; TOTALS 10 (5) 10-17 7, 45. S.Central 9 10 9 14 —42 Newton 6 14 10 15 —45